Cell coverage and bandwidth capabilities are typically decided during a network planning phase. However, during the network planning phase an exact amount of traffic and a distribution of the traffic from user equipment (UEs) are unknown. The traffic load distribution in a cell may be non-uniform because of dynamic behaviors of users in the cell (e.g. the usage levels and activities of the UE) and dynamic environmental conditions (e.g. rush hours, mass events, and so forth).
Service performance as seen by a user can depend on the traffic load in the cell the user is operating in, e.g. on the number of users are sharing the cell resources at a selected location. A user experience and service performance can degrade significantly when there is an increase in a number of UEs using the same cell within a selected geographical area. A determination of a distribution of traffic in a cell for a selected period of time and/or for selected events can be used to configure cell resources according to environmental and user behavior. The cell resources can be configured to increase an efficient use of cell resources and to serve as many customers as possible at a selected level of service.
Reference will now be made to the exemplary embodiments illustrated, and specific language will be used herein to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the invention is thereby intended.